"It offers much more self-reliance than depending upon a power utility for all electricity."

"The benefits of solar electricity Cut your electricity bills: sunlight is free, so once you've paid for the initial installation your electricity costs will be reduced. Get paid for the electricity you generate: the government's Feed-In Tariffs pay you for the electricity you generate, even if you use it. Sell electricity back to the grid: if your system is producing more electricity than you need, or when you can't use it, you can sell the surplus back to the grid. Cut your carbon footprint: solar electricity is green, renewables energy and doesn't release any harmful carbon dioxide] or other pollutants. A typical home solar PV system could save over a tonne of carbon dioxide per year - that's more than 30 tonnes over its lifetime. "

" Solar cells are made of the same kinds of semiconductor materials, such as silicon, used in the microelectronics industry. For solar cells, a thin semiconductor wafer is specially treated to form an electric field, positive on one side and negative on the other. When light energy strikes the solar cell, electrons are knocked loose from the atoms in the semiconductor material. If electrical conductors are attached to the positive and negative sides, forming an electrical circuit, the electrons can be captured in the form of an electric current -- that is, electricity. This electricity can then be used to power a load, such as a light or a too"

"The PV effect was discovered in 1954, when scientists at Bell Telephone discovered that silicon (an element found in sand) created an electric charge when exposed to sunlight. Soon solar cells were being used to power space satellites and smaller items like calculators and watches. Today, thousands of people power their homes and businesses with individual solar PV systems. Utility companies are also using PV technology for large power stations. "